


Inmaterial

by redpandawriter



Series: Chimerical [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: A non creepy ardyn for once, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Existentialism, Fluff and Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 19:12:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12637398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redpandawriter/pseuds/redpandawriter
Summary: Ardyn doesn't keep things, except when he does.(Prom and Ardy have a deep conversation, featuring a napping Noct.)





	Inmaterial

**Author's Note:**

> This was posted on my Tumblr as a gift to a friend who requested a "non-creepy Ardyn", but I decided to post it here for more people to see it. Enjoy!

Ardyn wasn't the type to keep mementos. He just wasn't the sentimental sort. Being alive for a few centuries tends to diminish the value of things. Or perhaps that was just Ardyn, he was naught the sort to put meaning in material gain.

He didn't own very much, a car, a few outfits, a phone he doesn't really use. Having lots of shiny, new things just never appealed, happiness can't be bought, and all that. Though being alive for too long probably dulled his feelings just in general. Who was it that said everything fades in time?

Still, he makes his way through the attic of one of the Caelum summer villas with the intent of cleaning up whatever mess had been left behind. It had been a long time since anyone had used it, judging by the layer of dust just in the foyer alone, so Ardyn had spent yesterday cleaning the ground floor, leaving the attic for next day.  
And that day had come, sooner than Ardyn had hoped. Downstairs he could hear a ruckus, no doubt his grand nephew, Noctis, and his friend, Prompto, were back from their outing. Prompto had wanted to travel outside the country, citing ‘photographic variety’ as his excuse. Noct just wanted a break from his responsibilities, good on him for being honest, and had all but begged Ardyn to come with so there wouldn't be a need to bring his shield.

Ardyn hadn't cared for Noctis’s pleading, but he was getting a bit stir crazy so he obliged, and arranged a vacation trip for them.

And so he stood in the attic of a Caelum vacation home, cleaning and organizing, while the children, well adults he supposed they were in their twenties, played together on the ground level. That's what he assumed at least, it had suddenly gotten quiet down there, so either his nephew had fallen asleep or they both glued their faces to phones again, it was certainly a trend these past years.

Going down stairs revealed he only half right. Noctis was soundly asleep on Prompto’s lap, the later had his eyes trained on his phone’s screen, not even looking up as he said, “Noct wasn't feeling good, so he clocked out.”

“It’s probably all the dust, I should go and get a humidifier.” He replied with a sniff.

At this, Prompto looked up from his phone, “Do you ever stop working?”

Ardyn couldn't help but smirk at that, “If I don't keep myself occupied, I'd be forced to think about the reality of my rejected existence.”

“..You seem pretty welcome to me.” the blonde responded unsurely. Ardyn chuckled at that.

“My family has always been accommodating, be it out of pity or compassion, no nephew of mine has ever had the thought cross them to spurn me.” he began, as he casually walked towards the coffee table, now decorated with an assortment of treats and trinkets, “ They are not who I was referring to, however, who I meant was-”

Ardyn had, what a lot of people called, a photographic memory. It was a both a blessing and a curse. He could recall things as far back as to his days as a youth, back when things were simpler, with less existential angst. He could never truly forget anything, which made the contents of the picture frame a bit confounding.

It was of him, sitting in a chair outside on the porch of the villa. It was sunset, and he was staring off at something in the distance. But what truly struck him, was, first, how relaxed at peace he looked in it, and second, when the hell did Prompto take that. 

They had only been here for a day and a half and he hadn't seen nor heard from the two boys for the entire evening yesterday, not to mention how up close he was in the photo. That and the clearance tag was still on the frame, so this was very much recent and very much not in his memory and very slightly distressing him.

“Prompto, when.. did you take that?”

“Yesterday.”

“And how did you do that?”

“With a camera, duh.”

Ardyn glared at him, a little exasperated, “I don't recall you taking such a photo of me yesterday, that's what I'm asking.”

The blonde shrugged, a tad uneasily. “I've never seen you like that before.” 

Ardyn sighed at that, “So you had it framed?”

He shrugged again, “I let Noct pick which ones got developed, I pretty sure he likes it too. Guess he wants to remember you as much as I do.”

He stared at Prompto, he didn't mean to, but the phrase caught him a little off guard. “Remember me?”

“Yeah, Noct told me about the whole prophecy thing, how he's gonna hafta kill you, and all that,” he said sheepishly “I guess the whole thing weighs kinda heavy for him.”

“Oh?” Ardyn asked simply.

“I mean, you've been around since the founding day of Insomnia, so like, the thought of you not being here is just. Like I can't imagine you never popping up randomly to remind us of important stuff or photobomb our selfies.”

“Life goes on,” Ardyn uttered quietly, “whether we are here to see it or not. Just as you said, I have existed for a long time, since the infancy of the Lucian kingdom, watching over my brother's legacy, ensuring each generation of my nephews are safe and capable rulers. But as a human beings, I have learned, that we were not built to live for so long.”

“That doesn't mean we wouldn't miss you, for the time that we've known you.” Prompto whispered, “I'd miss you.”

Ardyn turned away from the picture to face Prompto, but the blonde was staring intently at the frame, a light pink blush dusted his cheeks. An odd pain formed in his chest as he thought over those words. It hadn't crossed his mind before, the idea of being missed. He had been so fixated on the idea of oblivion, he had forgotten that others don't think of death in the same way he did.

He didn't know it was possible to be both simultaneously touched and depressed, but there it was. And just in time to save Prompto from further embarrassment, the prince showed signs of waking, rested enough to resume whatever mischief he and his friend were fond of making.

 _To be missed, hm?_ Ardyn mused, picking up the photo frame, _There are worse fates, I suppose._


End file.
